"Babylon" is the sixth episode of the first season of Mad Men and this means that the episode we got here is now over 15, actually over 16 years already and boy has it aged well. But you see that from the rating of my review anyway. I think the show started alright with the first trio of episodes, but then gained really steam and got way better even and this episode we got here is another example why this show is so brilliant overall. They are actually proceeding nicely with quite a few characters here and we learn a lot of new aspects about them. There is not as much focus on Don as there was during previous episodes. We see Joan has an affair with Roger and I liked how they depicted it when we see Roger in bed first talk to somebody and think that maybe he is at home with his wife, but the truth could not be any more different. And all this after we see his wife and daughter just a few moments earlier. Peggy gets a nice boost too and it's pretty much the first time we understand there is more to her than a typewriting career. It was kinda cute and funny to see how much she enjoys the appreciation. At the same time, it was interesting to watch Joan react to all this. You probably would not want her as your enemy. This episode really had a gigantic amount of elaboration on gender roles back then. Actually, before I get to that it was also interesting to find out a specific date here as on one occasion it was mentioned that Adolf Eichmann was arrested a few days earlier, which means we are in May 1960 right now. This was of course inevitably linked to the Jewish background of the episode. This one you can call Mad Men's tribute to Jewry.
But I was mentioning the gender roles, so let's look at all we have here: Early on, the show is pretty specific about how much Betty physically needs Don in her life. Yes, we talking about sex there. Interestingly enough, there is a scene later on when Don is not really in the mood and his wife has to accept it of course. Nonetheless, what stayed almost more memorable were two other moments from their conversation early on. The first would be Betty joking about cheating and Don's face expression afterwards and the second would be Betty's comment about her mother and herself as an older woman, which is of course almost a bit on the bitter side if you know how the show ended. Then there is Roger not getting enough of Joan and probably also a bit the other around, even if she is far from self-sacrificing in their relationship from the way it sounds during their conversation. Still you had to feel a bit sorry for her honestly, especially with the bird scene then, which was totally a metaphor how she was the bird in the cage in reality. There is even talk about what he would like to do with her and how he does not want her to see other men, which is of course really ironic looking at how he is the married one. In addition to that, we have this really special scene that could not be more loaded with sexism when all the office girls get lipstick to try on and the boys are watching behind the glass with almost none of the women knowing. This was then of course one inclusion where Peggy was allowed to shine, but at the same time you can look at Joan's behavior there and she may not have been 100% sure that Roger was in the room, but she knew that the men would be crazy about what they saw. What did one of them say? He needed to bow down to her magnificence or so. As always, there were many very stunning women in here again, not just the obvious ones, but also for example the one who plays Don's mother back when he was a child or the actress who portrays Rachel and who had to be in this episode of course given the background.
The beginning with the flashback from centuries ago when Don falls down the stairs takes us back into his mysterious past a bit, but this was not really the center of attention for the episode. Interestingly enough this must have been around 1930 again, so even before the darkest (political) crimes of the 20th century happened. Speaking of Don, we get to meet one of his lovers again and in this scene you could even see how there is no getting away when he is in the mood to have intercourse. He even breaks some of her stuff haha. Pretty crazy. The company is dealing with the Israeli Tourism Ministry or whatever they were called exactly which was of course again no coincidence given the contents here. One character who gets almost no elaboration this time is Pete. Yet the one moment he had when cracking an execution-themed joke while they were watching the girls was also telling. You could see that the other boys do not really like him much.
Before I come to the end, this episode also had some really nice music and movie references again. We hear a bit about Joan Crawford and Paul Newman, but the music was where the episode really shone. The intro is always a winner, but here we are especially exposed to the talent of David Carbonara who gets to perform two songs even. Lipstick is the first, but the real winner is the way it ends then with his rendition of the really good Don McLean song "Babylon". What a voice Carbonara has. Pity we (or at least I) have not heard from him on other occasions. Definitely my loss as he is sweet as silk. So if there was any minor doubt then before that if this is not just a good, but a great episode, then said doubt was literally crushed by this song and the pictures we see at the same time. Seeing Joan and Roger get out of the hotel there and stand away from each other as if they are strangers again really had an impact on me. Just lie the episode as a whole. Really nice work by André and Maria Jacquemetton and you don't hear too often that spouses are in charge of the same writing credit. But of course Matthew Weiner must not be omitted, the third writer from the bunch and he is always good. Same is true for director Andrew Berstein. Maybe a special episode for him too. That is all. Another big thumbs-up for these minimally over 45 minutes that totally make me curious for the next episodes and for those viewers who do not like Don it was maybe tough to see Rachel fall for him so hopelessly again (I guess it is safe to say she was talking about him), but at the same time it was kinda funny what she responded when being asked if the man she wants is one who has a lot of humor to him. Certainly not Don's biggest strength. Now that is really all, even if I could probably keep elaborating on this episode and talking about many other inclusions until the character limit is reached. But I won't because you should just go and watch it yourself. Highly recommended.
But I was mentioning the gender roles, so let's look at all we have here: Early on, the show is pretty specific about how much Betty physically needs Don in her life. Yes, we talking about sex there. Interestingly enough, there is a scene later on when Don is not really in the mood and his wife has to accept it of course. Nonetheless, what stayed almost more memorable were two other moments from their conversation early on. The first would be Betty joking about cheating and Don's face expression afterwards and the second would be Betty's comment about her mother and herself as an older woman, which is of course almost a bit on the bitter side if you know how the show ended. Then there is Roger not getting enough of Joan and probably also a bit the other around, even if she is far from self-sacrificing in their relationship from the way it sounds during their conversation. Still you had to feel a bit sorry for her honestly, especially with the bird scene then, which was totally a metaphor how she was the bird in the cage in reality. There is even talk about what he would like to do with her and how he does not want her to see other men, which is of course really ironic looking at how he is the married one. In addition to that, we have this really special scene that could not be more loaded with sexism when all the office girls get lipstick to try on and the boys are watching behind the glass with almost none of the women knowing. This was then of course one inclusion where Peggy was allowed to shine, but at the same time you can look at Joan's behavior there and she may not have been 100% sure that Roger was in the room, but she knew that the men would be crazy about what they saw. What did one of them say? He needed to bow down to her magnificence or so. As always, there were many very stunning women in here again, not just the obvious ones, but also for example the one who plays Don's mother back when he was a child or the actress who portrays Rachel and who had to be in this episode of course given the background.
The beginning with the flashback from centuries ago when Don falls down the stairs takes us back into his mysterious past a bit, but this was not really the center of attention for the episode. Interestingly enough this must have been around 1930 again, so even before the darkest (political) crimes of the 20th century happened. Speaking of Don, we get to meet one of his lovers again and in this scene you could even see how there is no getting away when he is in the mood to have intercourse. He even breaks some of her stuff haha. Pretty crazy. The company is dealing with the Israeli Tourism Ministry or whatever they were called exactly which was of course again no coincidence given the contents here. One character who gets almost no elaboration this time is Pete. Yet the one moment he had when cracking an execution-themed joke while they were watching the girls was also telling. You could see that the other boys do not really like him much.
Before I come to the end, this episode also had some really nice music and movie references again. We hear a bit about Joan Crawford and Paul Newman, but the music was where the episode really shone. The intro is always a winner, but here we are especially exposed to the talent of David Carbonara who gets to perform two songs even. Lipstick is the first, but the real winner is the way it ends then with his rendition of the really good Don McLean song "Babylon". What a voice Carbonara has. Pity we (or at least I) have not heard from him on other occasions. Definitely my loss as he is sweet as silk. So if there was any minor doubt then before that if this is not just a good, but a great episode, then said doubt was literally crushed by this song and the pictures we see at the same time. Seeing Joan and Roger get out of the hotel there and stand away from each other as if they are strangers again really had an impact on me. Just lie the episode as a whole. Really nice work by André and Maria Jacquemetton and you don't hear too often that spouses are in charge of the same writing credit. But of course Matthew Weiner must not be omitted, the third writer from the bunch and he is always good. Same is true for director Andrew Berstein. Maybe a special episode for him too. That is all. Another big thumbs-up for these minimally over 45 minutes that totally make me curious for the next episodes and for those viewers who do not like Don it was maybe tough to see Rachel fall for him so hopelessly again (I guess it is safe to say she was talking about him), but at the same time it was kinda funny what she responded when being asked if the man she wants is one who has a lot of humor to him. Certainly not Don's biggest strength. Now that is really all, even if I could probably keep elaborating on this episode and talking about many other inclusions until the character limit is reached. But I won't because you should just go and watch it yourself. Highly recommended.